The invention relates to an assembly of a medical examination device with an examination space and a combination of a frame and a patient table, said assembly further being provided with displacing means which are drivable by driving means and which are used to move a patient on the patient table into and out of the examination space, said displacing means comprising an elongated push-pull member that is connected to the patient table.
The invention also relates to a combination of a frame and a patient table for use in such an assembly.
An assembly of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,776. In said document a description is given of a shell-shaped MRI scanner. The examination space is situated in the interior of this shell shape. Persons to be examined are in a horizontal position on a patient table and are moved into the examination space. For this purpose, the patient table in the examination space is supported and guided by a number of rollers, while underneath an end portion of the patient table which always projects from the examination space there is provided a leg at the underside of which a swivel wheel is mounted that rests on the floor underneath on which the MRI scanner rests too. Substantially throughout its length, the patient table is provided with a toothed rack that is in mesh with a gear that is driven by a driving means that is incorporated within the wall thickness of the shell shape of the MRI scanner. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,776 additionally a number of alternative embodiments are described wherein use is made of a type of transmission other than a toothed rack transmission, such as a screwed-spindle transmission and a multiple linkage mechanism. All these embodiments have in common that the length of the patient table exceeds the length that is necessary to support a patient that is in a horizontal position. This can be attributed, on the one hand, to the fact that in the situation where the patient table is in the pulled-out state, said patient table necessarily still rests on at least the roller that, inside the examination space, is closest to the entrance side of the MRI scanner. As the patient positions himself, or is positioned, on the examination table outside the interior of the shell shape, it is inevitable, assuming that the patient is moved into the examination space head first, that a certain length of the patient table on the side of the head remains unused, at least for supporting the patient. In this sense, also on the foot side a certain length of the patient table remains unused, which can be attributed to the transmission chosen to push the patient table into and pull it out of the examination space. As a result, in the pushed-in state, a part of said patient table projects beyond the MRI scanner on the entrance side. This observation leads to the first important drawback of the known assembly, which is that the patient table is inherently longer than would be necessary for the height of a patient. A second important drawback resides in that the patient table and the MRI scanner form an inextricable combination as a result of which the patient must necessarily position himself on the patient table at the location of the MRI scanner, or if the patient is unable to do so, the patient is positioned on the patient table at said location by medical personnel.